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It always amuses me when I see the discussions between cult followers when they speak negatively about televangelists and faith healers and their expensive lifestyles. When news hits that some minister has purchased a new airplane or expensive car, or the doors open on a multi-million-dollar complex, it seems that nothing but condemnation can flow from their minds. "Our prophet is not like that," they tell themselves. "He wouldn't even accept a cadillac if it were given to him!"

But this simply is not true.

The "Fictional Brother Branham" that exists only on recorded tape is not the same "Physical Brother Branham" that existed in real life. Cult followers have whole heartedly accepted every single word on recorded tape as honest fact -- even if those same statements are complete fiction. With the websites exposing William Branham's fictional life stories and failed prophecies, many ministers have changed their stance on this subject. For the past fifty years, ministers trained their congregations to believe that every single word spoken on recorded tape by William Branham was "more accurate than today's newspaper." But now that many of these statements are proven false, they now promote the idea that "He was just a man and he made mistakes." (Those mistakes, obviously, are the lies he told).

But oddly, they have not changed their stance with regards to the person, William Branham. While they will now admit that Branham was not under the "Mystery Cloud," or that he got the wrong bridge in his "Bridge Prophecy," these ministers continue to promote the idea that every single thing William Branham said about himself was true. From his character traits, to his lifestyle, to his financial condition, to his Kentucky Hillbilly stories, they still want their followers to believe everything that this "fictional hillbilly" said about himself. Why? If you remove the failed prophecies, and you remove the twisted scriptures, what more is left?

When a follower who has been taught for fifty years to believe perfect accuracy is now taught to believe perfect error, something inside them breaks. The iron-clad foundation they believed to exist in the ministry of William Branham is suddenly replaced with shifting sands of time -- and as time goes on, those sands continue to shift. They must be left with SOMETHING to cling to, and that something, according to this new strategy by cult ministers, is the fictional William Branham that existed only on recorded tape.

While they proclaimed a man whose lifestyle could afford only a "Motel 6," the first time a cult follower learns that William Branham enjoyed the luxuries of extravagant hotels like the Piccadilly Hotel in London, there is a problem. While they are taught a William Branham that avoided the very appearance of evil, the first time a cult follower learns that he toured Pigalle, the smut capital and homosexual gathering place of the world in its day, there is a problem. The first time they learn of him watching movies, collecting small fortunes at each stop on the faith healing tour, or other contradictions to their "fictional William Branham," there is a problem.

When they see the simpleton strumming his guitar next to his lovely wife in a black-and-white photo, they cannot imagine a man who lived a hidden life of luxury. Instead of a fictional hillbilly who enjoyed guitars, they suddenly learn that he was a world playboy that enjoyed guitars and Cadillacs.